Cybercrime

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what changes are required to domestic legislation in order to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.

Lord West of Spithead: The Government are fully committed to ratifying the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention. We are currently working through the formal UK process of ratification, during which we will lay the required Explanatory Memorandum before Parliament to obtain approval for ratification. If Parliament agrees to ratification, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will then commence the formal ratification process with the Council of Europe.
	The Government had hoped to complete this process earlier in the year, but due to extended discussions with the devolved Administrations and with legal advisers this has not been possible. We do not believe that further legislation will be necessary before we can proceed. We now hope to complete the parliamentary process before the Summer Recess, and the Council of Europe process within two months of that.

Cycling

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the police concerning the enforcement of the law against cyclists using the footpath in the area around Westminster.

Lord West of Spithead: The enforcement of cycling offences is an operational matter for individual chief officers of police. We fully support any action the police decide is appropriate to deter and reduce offending of this sort. To assist enforcement we have made it possible for police community support officers to issue £30 fixed penalty notices for the offence of riding on the footway.

Cycling

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty's Government what the rates for the wearing of cycle helmets were in each of the past five years among children aged (a) 8—10, (b) 11—13, (c) 14—16, and (d) 17—18.

Lord Adonis: Observational surveys were undertaken in 2004 and 2006. The data are as follows:
	
		
			 Comparison of cycle helmet wearing rate by age group for 2004 and 2006 on major built up roads. 
			  2004 Wearing rate percentage 2006 Wearing rate percentage 
			 Children 14.1 17.6 
			 Adults 29.0 31.5 
			 All cyclists 28.2 30.7 
		
	
	
		
			 Comparison of cycle helmet wearing rate by age group for 2004 and 2006 on minor built up roads. 
			  2004 Wearing rate percentage 2006 Wearing rate percentage 
			  Male Female Total Male Female Total 
			 0-6 years old 23.7 38.9 26.7 13.8 29.7 22.7 
			 7-10 years old 3.9 12.0 5.4 5.2 10.9 7.3 
			 11-16 years old 4.8 8.6 5.4 6.5 18.7 9.1 
			 Adult 10.9 13.1 11.3 13.4 21.8 15.5

Elections: European Parliament

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty's Government in which member states of the European Union voting was compulsory at the recent elections for the European Parliament.

Lord Brett: The UK Government understand that compulsory voting systems operate in Greece, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Equality Bill

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the facility in Northern Ireland for all-women shortlists which they propose to extend to Northern Ireland in the Equality Bill from 2015 to 2030 has been utilised by political parties.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: These voluntary provisions, that were first introduced through the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 which amended both the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 to allow for women-only electoral shortlists to be lawful, offer political parties the facility to address the under-representation of women in elected political office.
	We are not aware that the political parties in Northern Ireland have utilised the facility so far. The extension of the current expiry date for the provisions from 2015 to 2030 will approximately double the period, and the minimum number of general elections, during which the use of women-only electoral shortlists would be permissible.

EU: Legislation

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 4 June (WA 107), why he did not mention that European Union regulations have direct effect in the United Kingdom; and whether, in the light of the United Kingdom's results in the European Parliamentary elections, they will reconsider their decision not to undertake research into the proportion of United Kingdom legislation originating in the European Union.

Lord Brett: The Answer given by my noble friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, did not mention EC regulations as the Question did not ask about the legal effect of specific Community instruments. It has always been clear that EC regulations are directly applicable in the UK. The Government reaffirm the Answer to the previous Question.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Statement by Lord Darzi of Denham on 20 May (WS 121—22), whether all payments made to beneficiaries of the Macfarlane Trust in consequence of the Written Statement will be increased in line with inflation.

Lord Darzi of Denham: This will be kept under review in the light of prevailing priorities for public expenditure.

Health: Diabetes

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure increased research into the causes and treatment of Type 1 diabetes, in the light of the report in the Lancet on the number of cases of childhood diabetes.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Both the department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) invest in diabetes research. Their combined total expenditure on the topic in 2007-08 amounted to some £51 million. That investment continues: the department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for example is currently providing infrastructure support for 21 studies specifically concerned with type 1 diabetes via the diabetes clinical research network formed in May 2006.
	The usual practice of the NIHR and of the MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Future levels of expenditure on diabetes research will be determined by the success of relevant bids for funding.

Houses of Parliament: Select Committees

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will answer Question HL3139 tabled on 24 April about the occasions and circumstances when Ministers of the Government Equalities Office and its predecessors have refused to give evidence to Parliamentary Select Committees during the past five years; and what is the reason for the delay in answering it.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 17 June 2009 (Official Report, col. WA 211-12).

Immigration

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the figures for (a) inward immigration, and (b) net immigration, in each of the past 12 years.

Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Baroness Warsi, dated June 2009.
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your question concerning the most recent estimate for a) inward immigration and b) net immigration, in each of the last 12 years. (HL4386)
	Official estimates of long-term immigration and net migration into the UK for 1996-2007 are given in Table 1 attached. The data are consistent with published figures.
	
		
			 Table 1: Long-term International Migration1 time series, 1996 to 2007 
			   United Kingdom 
			   Thousands 
			  Immigration to the UK Net Migration 
			 1996 318 + 55 
			 1997 327 + 48 
			 1998 391 + 140 
			 1999 454 + 163 
			 2000 479 + 158 
			 2001 479 + 173 
			 2002 513 + 154 
			 2003 508 + 147 
			 2004 586 + 244 
			 2005 563 + 204 
			 2006 591 + 191 
			 2007 577 + 237 
		
	
	1. Long-term International Migration (LTIM) is the most comprehensive measure of long-term international migration, and is based mainly on data from the IPS, supplemented with data on flows to and from the Republic of Ireland. Other data sources are used to make adjustments for asylum seekers and their dependants not counted by the IPS and for switchers (people who change their intentions and, therefore, their migratory status). LTIM was previously referred to as Total International Migration or TIM.

National Parks Authority

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the full report of the review team's work on the National Parks Authority will be published.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The date of publication of the peer review report is a matter for the New Forest National Park Authority to determine. I understand that it intends to release information on the findings and an action plan for implementing any recommendations arising from the assessment at the same time.

National Policy Statements

Lord Greaves: To ask the Chairman of Committees whether proposals for the way in which the House of Lords will scrutinise national policy statements are under consideration; and, if not, when this matter will be considered.
	To ask the Chairman of Committees whether discussions are taking place with the House of Commons authorities on whether scrutiny of national policy statements may take place jointly where appropriate, and on the means by which that may happen.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: I refer the noble Lord to today's Written Statement by the Leader of the House. I have no plans to discuss joint scrutiny of national policy statements with the House of Commons.

New Forest: National Park

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the revised draft National Park Plan for the New Forest National Park will be produced; and how long the consultation on it will last.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Following an extensive consultation process on the draft National Park Plan during autumn last year, the New Forest National Park Authority carried out a further engagement process in the spring of this year. This involved an extensive programme of working groups and other meetings to look in detail at the issues which prompted most interest. The authority is now completing the analysis of all the comments that have been made and intends to take a revised National Park Plan to its authority meeting at the end of October.
	Once approved by the authority, the core strategy component of the plan will be subject to a further minimum six week statutory consultation followed some months later by an independent public examination.

New Forest: Riding Schools

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many commercial riding schools there were in the New Forest in each year from 1992 to 2008.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The table below shows how many commercial riding schools there were in the New Forest in each year from 1992 to 2008:
	
		
			 1992 28 
			 1993 28 
			 1994 26 
			 1995 24 
			 1996 24 
			 1997 24 
			 1998 22 
			 1999 21 
			 2000 19 
			 2001 20 
			 2002 20 
			 2003 19 
			 2004 18 
			 2005 17 
			 2006 17 
			 2007 18 
			 2008 18

Post Office

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will propose to Post Office Limited measures to address morale amongst Post Office workers, in the context of the Postal Services Bill.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The Government have introduced a range of measures which combine to better equip Post Office Limited, and its staff, to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.
	The Government have proposed the creation of a new, expanded board for Post Office Limited, with a non-executive chair. This will provide a new level of support and challenge for Post Office Limited's management team.
	In addition, the Postal Services Bill provides powers which allow the Government to take responsibility for historic pension liabilities within the Royal Mail pension plan. This includes liabilities for staff working in Post Office Limited, who will be treated the same as staff working in Royal Mail Group Limited.
	Staff who work for Post Office Limited are currently on secondment from Royal Mail Group Limited. They are not formally employed by Post Office Limited. On a reorganisation of the Royal Mail group of companies, they will be transferred to become direct employees of Post Office Limited on exactly the same terms and conditions as they enjoy now. The Postal Services Bill contains provisions to confirm that the employment law protections offered by the TUPE regulations will be provided to staff affected by the transfer.

Recycling

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the United Kingdom is importing glass bottles, used tin cans and scrap paper to keep United Kingdom recycling plants operational; and what action they are taking on that matter.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government have made no specific assessment on these matters.
	We are aware, however, that WRAP has reported that UK re-processors of these materials have said that they cannot always acquire enough material of the right quality for their needs from UK sources, and they are having to supplement their supply from abroad.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish Sir Robin Auld's final report on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Lord Brett: The Governor received the Commission of Inquiry's final report on 31 May. Once it has been considered in detail, and taking into account to the judicial review proceedings before the courts in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Governor will make a further announcement about when it might be published.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial consequences to the United Kingdom of imposing direct rule on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Lord Brett: No decision has yet been taken to bring into force the Order in Council suspending parts of the Turks and Caicos Islands constitution for an interim period of two years. Any such decision will be taken after the final report of the Commission of Inquiry has been given careful consideration. The final report was received by the Governor on 31 May and his now being considered by the Governor, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Ministers.
	In his interim report of 28 February, Sir Robin Auld, heading the Commission of Inquiry into possible corruption or other serious dishonesty in relation to Members of the Turks and Caicos Islands House of Assembly, stated that the territory's finances were in dire straits and poorly controlled and that "the financial situation is so bad that the Government cannot pay many of its bills as they fall due".
	We have already taken steps to help improve the situation and an adviser on public financial management (funded by the Department for International Development) arrived in the Turks and Caicos Islands in April to work with the Ministry of Finance in support of the Territory's Fiscal Stabilisation Plan. We are considering what further expert advice will be required. Firm measures will be needed to bring the financial situation and economic situation under control. In any event, the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands will remain responsible for their own debts.

Window Blind Safety

The Earl of Mar and Kellie: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to take actions concerning looped cords for blinds and curtains following the recommendations of the sheriff in Alloa at the conclusion of the fatal accident inquiry into the death of Muireann McLaughlin.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: The Sheriff published his determination on the fatal accident inquiry into the death of Muireann McLaughlin on 28 May. This department is carefully considering the recommendations made and how best to deal with them.